The color drained from Adriel's face instantly, but then he thought it through. He couldn't attack them, so they could enter regardless of whether he allowed it or not.
After a quick, deep breath, Adriel headed toward the entrance, ignoring Azucena's ex.
He twisted his waist slightly to look back. "Let's go," he said while nodding his head toward the entrance.
After this, the whole group began to walk, although Elena and Amara were already on their way, following him before the others.
As they passed by the ex, the difference in height was clear. Despite his teenage mindset, Adriel's body was that of a young adult, his expression and stride making his distrust of the person who seemed to control the place evident.
The place was surprisingly nice; several people were walking here and there, many elderly, though mature adults predominated.
Many places had signs with letters carved with the edge of a knife. All the shops sold services like sharpening weapons, repairing them, and even a place that looked like a mini brothel, which raised most of the group's eyebrows.
The plants in the area were spaced out, with many places having none, making it clear that people usually slept on the ground.
A large man approached the group, then saw Kael and started talking to him. "Hello, young man. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a grandfather with two grandchildren; one is the best weaver in this place, and I have my other grandson who is the only blacksmith in the entire village. Feel free to come to us."
Kael bowed his back in respect. "Good morning. Thank you very much for the information; we'll hire you if we need your services." After the young man said this, the old man stroked his beard.
"Tell me, what do you plan to work as?" he said with a small smile on his face.
The boy stood still while thinking a bit, then responded. "Something like a private or public protector," he said without hurry.
When Kael finished speaking, the hunter sprang into action. Before the old man could even think about what the protector said, Adriel spoke. "Tell me, have any strange things happened, like disappearances or murders?"
The man was surprised by Adriel's question but managed to stabilize his thoughts and speak. "No... Many people who arrive die, but that's because they go hunting far from here and end up dying."
The hunter nodded. He placed his hand on his heart and bowed. "Private or public detective Adriel, tell me if you need anything."
'Even if it doesn't seem like it to everyone, I feel a detective is almost the same as a hunter; in the end, both observe their targets and then capture them,' thought the hunter as he straightened up.
The man turned to look at the girls in the group; all of them were behind the two boys. "And you all, what do you plan to work as?"
"Probably something like tarot reading when I get a skill for it," Amara said instantly.
"I'll be a whore. Do you think five coins per session inside is good?" Elena asked without any filter.
Everyone fell silent, expecting her to feel some kind of pain from her slavery contract with Adriel, but he stayed quiet, watching them. He didn't care one bit.
"We'll probably work with Adriel," said Liora while hugging Selene. After all, being a detective's assistant makes sense as a psychic, and someone to deliver the final blow is necessary in the profession.
"I don't..." Selene was about to refuse, but after thinking it over, she nodded silently.
"Well, that's enough chatter; we should start working now that we know what we'll do," said Adriel before separating from the others to look for clients.
Amara looked at Azucena curiously. "Why didn't you say what you were going to do?"
"I was supposed to be the botanist here; I was looking for new types of plants for rituals when Adriel found me and brought me with you," she said calmly.
"Ah!" Amara's face of surprise was so big it even seemed exaggerated. 'I didn't know Adriel was so crazy as to just take a girl out of nowhere.'
...
'Titles are earned through effort; I think I'll have to solve a case first, then people will hire me,' thought the hunter as he walked aimlessly.
Every corner of the mini-community was unfinished. Wherever you looked, you could see unfinished wooden things—except for one. In the end, the boss always keeps the best for himself.
At some point, the boy felt a discomfort, something like a tingling, and when he thought about invoking the system, it appeared there.
The first thing he did was check his coins, which exceeded 60. He soon opened the shop and then went to the auction house, where he found a new option: "Buy It Now."
'It's probably like in Hypixel; there was an auction and bin there.' Adriel never knew how auction houses worked, so his information only came from games.
He began browsing the purchase options. All the weapons were bad for him, mostly because he didn't know how to use them.
Soon, he found something that caught his attention: a bow. 'Phase: Initial. Category: D. Description: A bow you can use 20 times for free per day, creating common knife-tipped arrows.'
'It costs 20, but it doesn't seem like a bad deal...' The hunter stared at the screen for a long time.
His finger began to approach the screen, clicking "Buy." One more click on "Accept," and he acquired a bow.
'When you think of a hunter, the first thing you imagine along with the person is a bow and arrow. Plus, I can make incredible profit from it,' thought the boy, trying to justify his new expense.
'I think right now, it suits me more to act at night. Plus, I'm too lazy to be looking for someone who needs a detective.' After concluding these thoughts, the boy began to fall asleep until he lay down on the ground.
...
Kael was walking around without thinking, just walking without knowing what to do.
At some point, he saw the old man who had spoken to them, but he was talking to a girl. From afar, he couldn't see well, but after squinting his eyes, he saw white ears and a tail of the same color—those of a cat.
The boy was surprised, but not too much. Thanks to knowing Elena, discovering new races wouldn't be surprising for a while.
The shelter's situation was so poor that Kael stood there watching the old man and the girl, as there was no other way to do anything minimally productive.
Suddenly, the old man turned to where the boy was, and they made eye contact. Then, he pointed directly at him, showing the girl where he was.
She began to walk quickly toward Kael. The boy hadn't reacted to the situation yet.
The girl stopped in front of him. She had her hands behind her back and a smile that charmed Kael.
"Hi, I'm Sahima, nice to meet you, protector! What's your name?" Sahima didn't move her hands, just tilted her head a little when she asked.
"Kael... If you need help, I can provide it; don't worry," the boy said while looking away and extending his hand.
'She's very pretty,' he thought before the girl took his hand.
Both were surprised. Unlike the norm, Sahima had warmer hands full of calluses, while Kael's were colder and showed no signs of wear.
Their worlds were completely different before, so the boy's surprise wasn't that great.
She pulled him closer, putting her mouth too close to Kael's ear. "I'm 15 years old. I'm worried because minors have been disappearing. I haven't told anyone my age yet, but even a boy of just 9 years old disappeared recently."
Suddenly, a window appeared in front of the boy. 'Contract. Kael will provide protection to Sahima. In exchange, the woman will be forced to give him 20 system coins once the problem of minor disappearances is resolved.'
After finishing reading, Kael felt strange. Unlike the contracts they made, the one Sahima gave the boy seemed much more professional and specific in its conditions.
Doubt took over the boy; he really didn't know whether to accept or not, but in the end, he decided to protect the girl, even though he could be a possible victim too.
'My job is to protect her, but I have no way to investigate on my own, so I already know who could help me,' thought the protector before letting go of the handshake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" said the girl, pretending nothing happened.